“It’s just incredible,” McCoy said about the honor. “I was in my office, and I got an email. I looked at that and I ran into Larry’s [office] and I said,’ Is this for real?’”
The backstory
McCoy's family moved frequently due to her father's work. When her family settled in Conroe, McCoy said her dreams of being on the radio found airwaves.
In 1951, her mother heard news that the town would be getting a radio station, KMCO-AM. For McCoy, she said it was a dream come true because the station manager Bert Bagley had invited her to sing live.
“I was so tickled,” she said.
At 12 years old, McCoy said she made her radio debut, though it didn’t feel like a success at first. After hearing herself on the air, she said she cried, believing her performance was terrible. But her mother reassured her and soon McCoy received another call and was offered a 15-minute spot on KMCO-AM.
“I thought that was an eternity,” McCoy said.
The gig lasted for months, and before long she wanted more. She’d spend hours watching the station’s engineers and DJs, she said, soaking in the knowledge until one day she found herself behind the control board. The station’s crew gave her the reins, and from that moment on, McCoy was in charge of her own show four months after she started.
McCoy's love for music and the radio led her to meet country singers such as Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. In 1955, one of her most memorable moments happened when Elvis Presley visited Conroe, she said.
“It was the highlight of everything,” McCoy said.
McCoy has worked in Conroe radio her whole career at the station KMCO before it became KIKR and then KVST.
Diving in deeper
In 2023, McCoy received the Guinness World Record for the longest career as a radio presenter/DJ for a woman, and to date, has been in the industry for 74 years.
She said she has also been awarded a key to Conroe and four proclamations in her honor, and is also in the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.
At 86 years old, she hosts a classic country radio show five days a week for two hours alongside co-host Larry Galla. She said if she could travel all the places her voice has been, she'd have seen the whole world.
McCoy said what keeps her coming to work is her love for the people and music.
“I always want to make people happy and smile,” McCoy said.
